"I already had this job in my school," Andrew says of his job in the Office of Staff Development. He spent the first four years of his career teaching science and computer skills to middle school students, but he found he had a second group of eager learners when it came to technology: his fellow teachers. He's expanded on that role over the past two years by joining the Office of Staff Development, where he helps to support eight secondary schools' use of technology.
Helping teachers who distrust technology can pose a real challenge. "They view it as a barrier instead of a tool," he explains. The problem, he believes, can be that teachers are afraid that their students understand computers more than they do, but at the same time think that learning how to use technology takes too much to time to be worth the trouble.
One effective solution has been modeling. Andrew goes into a school and helps a teacher plan a lesson that uses technology in a significant way. And when the teacher puts his or her new lesson plan into effect, Andrew's there to help out with whatever technology issues might arise.
On the future use of technology in administrating schools:
"I think things are going to become integrated - gradebook over here, instructional management system over here, attendance over here. Things will start to become coordinated, and then mobile and wireless."